Look above thee; golden turrets,
Perish in the distant blue;
Look below thee; flowery carpets
Spread the floor of nature through;
And those roofs of palest azure,
And those floors, before, behind,
Spreading out in matchless grandeur,
Hold and cover all mankind.
This thy temple-home, erected
By an Architect divine;
'Tis thy Father's sanctuary
And thy Father's house is thine.
Perish in the distant blue;
Look below thee; flowery carpets
Spread the floor of nature through;
And those roofs of palest azure,
And those floors, before, behind,
Spreading out in matchless grandeur,
Hold and cover all mankind.
This thy temple-home, erected
By an Architect divine;
'Tis thy Father's sanctuary
And thy Father's house is thine.
What is God? A cruel tyrant
Ruling with a rod of iron,
Armed with stern, unyielding justice,
Or in kindlier mood benign,
Staying whom he will, or blessing
By an unexplained decree;
Punishing one man's transgressing
While another wanders free?
God, who made the skies above us,
God, who made the earth so fair,
God, whose loving kindness shineth
In the earth, the sea, the air.
Ruling with a rod of iron,
Armed with stern, unyielding justice,
Or in kindlier mood benign,
Staying whom he will, or blessing
By an unexplained decree;
Punishing one man's transgressing
While another wanders free?
God, who made the skies above us,
God, who made the earth so fair,
God, whose loving kindness shineth
In the earth, the sea, the air.
What O mighty current rolling
To eternity's great sea
Are thy wild conflicting murmurs
Of the all-wise Deity?
Let false science, in her blindness,
Lead her fools to black despair;
To eternity's great sea
Are thy wild conflicting murmurs
Of the all-wise Deity?
Let false science, in her blindness,
Lead her fools to black despair;
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